Japanese Investors Flex Their Muscles In London
A joint venture between two Japanese investment firms has bought a stake in one of London’s largest new office buildings.
Sotetsu Urban Creates Company and Yasuda Real Estate Company purchased a 20% stake in 21 Moorfields in the City from Lendlease, marking the JV's UK debut and the third significant deal in a week by Japanese firms in UK real estate.
The 565K SF building was completed in early 2024. It is the UK HQ of Deutsche Bank, which has a 25-year lease.
Lendlease bought the building along with investment partners in 2022 from Landsec for £809M — a price that would value the JV's 20% stake above £160M. Lendlease will retain 5% ownership, along with management of the building, the company said.
At the time of the purchase, one of Lendlease's partners in the deal was revealed to be TCorp, the Australian superannuation fund, and Companies House documents show that a division of Japan’s Tokio Marine Asset Management is also an investor in the building.
In a statement, a Yasuda executive explained its rationale for buying a stake in the building.
“The combination of resilient returns, strategic location, and trusted partners makes this an excellent long-term investment aligned with our global strategy,” Real Estate Executive Vice President and Representative Director Hiroyuki Mori said.
Yasuda is a privately owned real estate company that traces its history back to 1912. Sotetsu is a subsidiary of a listed holding company focused on urban regeneration schemes.
Earlier this week, Japanese firm Nomura Real Estate Development said it had teamed up with L&G to build 1,000 build-to-rent homes across the UK capital, starting with a 200-unit scheme in Herne Hill, south London.
And last week, Mitsui Fudosan, one of the world’s largest property companies, committed to developing the £1.1B extension of the British Library in King’s Cross, with Stanhope as development manager, a scheme that includes 600K SF of life sciences space.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation also offered to buy a 234K SF office building on the eastern edge of the City of London in December, a sale led by one of its lenders.
The Japanese bank agreed to a deal with Nuveen to buy One Portsoken near Aldgate for about £150M. The price represents a yield of 7.25%.
